AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I lowered beside the wolf, crossing my legs and not bothering to cover my nakedness. ‘What is this place?’
‘This was my gift to the original Alpha Seeker and her line, but now it’s yours and your mate’s. This place is a small consolation for the burden I have placed upon both of you.’
‘What do you mean by ‘consolation’?’
‘This is a getaway for you. A small pocket of reality that I created so that you might escape the burdens of reality. In this place, time pauses. No matter how long you stay here, it will feel like only minutes when you return.’
‘So, it’s like a reflection. A place that mirrors a small portion of the forest that we can access whenever we want.’
‘Essentially, yes,’ the Moon Spirit affirmed, its ears twitching as the sound of Rylan stirring reached our ears.
‘Only minutes will have passed back home?’ I was having a hard time wrapping my mind around the idea that time would just pause while we were here. It felt like we’d been here for weeks. If it was only a few minutes, then that meant that Rylan had no cause to feel guilty for being away for so long because we weren’t technically gone for a long period of time.
‘Mate,’ Rylan’s wolf whispered, obviously more aware than his human side.
‘I’m outside,’ I replied, amused.
‘Why?’ The inflection of the mental voice changed, meaning Rylan’s human side was awake now.
‘The Moon Spirit is here.’
‘Ah,’ was his reply, all drowsiness forgotten. ‘I’ll be right there.’
I could tell that Rylan had a ton of questions for the Moon Spirit. I was excited for him to learn about this place and what it could mean for us in the future. A safe space to get away. It was an incredibly thoughtful gift, one that would be enjoyed for many generations to come.
The thought of future generations made me think about what our future would look like. At the moment, the only thing we could focus on was this situation with Rylan’s aunt. We needed to figure out how to rebalance the scales or there wouldn’t be a future for any of us.
It was a sobering thought.
Rylan approached, sitting next to me and putting his arm around my shoulders. His face was solemn, and I knew that he’d listened to my earlier thoughts.
For the first time in what felt like weeks, we were thinking of the small pack we’d put together. Guilt ate at my insides, but I couldn’t bring myself to regret the time we spent here together. Our mate bond was complete, strong, and vibrant. I would never regret that.
‘I apologize for not explaining, but you both seemed… preoccupied,’ the Moon Spirit said, speaking into both of our thoughts.
‘So, this place is a pocket that time doesn’t touch?’ Rylan seemed to grasp everything we had already discussed.
‘Correct.’
‘Well, that’s interesting.’ A spark of curiosity entered his thoughts. ‘I’m grateful that you let us use this place.’
‘Like I said to your mate, this place is now yours. All you have to do to find it, is follow the directions I originally gave you.’
‘And… it’ll work wherever we are?’
‘Yes.’
“This place is incredible.”
I agreed with my mate. This gift was almost too much to accept, but I didn’t voice that in case I offended the Moon Spirit. Rylan slipped his hand into mine, squeezing my fingers in agreement.
‘I overheard you saying that all was well?’ Rylan queried, and I felt him prodding the place where the pack bond was.
‘It’s still there,’ the Moon Spirit assured him.
‘What now?’ I leaned back with my free hand supporting me. ‘Do we just return and pick up where we left off?’
‘Yes, but also no. You need to get information out of your cousin, but you’ve been going about it the wrong way. He is suffering while you’re trying to get through to him. In this, he needs both of you.’
